Conventionally, at manufacturers-side involved in the manufacture of apparatuses/units, various codes relating to firmware and documents relating to firmware and hardware are generated in a series of processes including a development process, a design process, a production process, an inspection process, a shipment process, a delivery and installation process and a user-side operation and maintenance process, and it takes considerable labor and cost for delivery and maintenance. Thus, means and methods for effectively overcoming these disadvantages are strongly desired.
As described above, at manufacturers-side, various codes and documents are conventionally generated in a series of processes including a development process, a design process, a manufacturing process, an inspection process, a shipment process, a delivery and installation process and a user-side operation and maintenance process. The various codes relating to firmware includes a source code, an object code, patch data, hardware state setting information on a host (or server, etc.) subjected to a maintenance service for the service processor and the like.
The documents include manuals, specifications, design drawings, EC sheets (a new design notice, a design modification notice) and the like relating to firmware, hardware and the like. It is assumed here that the documents 6 shown in FIG. 7 include all paper mediums such as the above-described manuals, specifications, design drawings and EC sheets. As shown in FIG. 7, the documents 6 in great volume are conventionally stored in a warehouse and delivered, if necessary, to an inspection division, a manufacturing division, customers, a maintenance company and the like. Further, the parties which received the documents 6 read the documents by visual observation.
Likewise, the source codes, object codes relating to firmware, hardware state setting information on a host (or a server, etc.) to which a service processor maintenance service is conducted, and the like are distributed by hand to related divisions, a maintenance company and the like. Further, at the manufacture side, there are installed a host 1 such as a mainframe used in various processings, a service processor 2 and a console 3. The service processor 2 is a computer serve system independent of the host 1. The service processor 2 controls the hardware of the host 1, provides conversational means for conversation with an operating system, monitors and diagnoses the operation state of the host 1 and the like.
The console 3 is a specific terminal for issuing commands to the service processor 2 and is operated by an operator. A remote maintenance terminal 5 is installed at a maintenance company side and connected to the console 3 (service processor 2) through a line 4. The remote maintenance terminal 5 conducts a remote maintenance through the line 4.
Meanwhile, it has been conventionally necessary to deliver source codes and object codes of the firmware developed by the design division and the documents 6 (see FIG. 7) (which will be referred to as “component information” hereinafter) one by one. Due to this, it disadvantageously takes considerable labor and cost for delivery and maintenance. In case of the documents 6, in particular, it disadvantageously takes considerable labor and cost for the preparation and creation of materials, the creation of block copies, maintenance, delivery and the like.
Moreover, the console 3 has been conventionally connected to the service processor 2 (host 1) as a part of the system. For that reason, only the console 3 can execute control over the service processor 2, which makes the system disadvantageously less versatile.